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 Liturgy Line A Seasonal Liturgical Resource from the Archdiocese of Seattle Liturgy Office
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| Exaltation of the Holy Cross |
On Wednesday, September 14, we celebrate the feast of the  Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which during the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy "deserves to be celebrated with great solemnity as it highlights the mystery of love and redemption which is the cross of Christ: 'For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth and the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered' (Preface of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross)." In addition to celebrating the proper liturgy of the day with great solemnity, the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization recommends that "the cross in the presbytery or in the church hall be decorated in such a way that it stands as an eminent sign of God's mercy and Christ's victory over death and, for this reason, remains a reference point for communal prayer and private reflection" (Celebrating Mercy, page 15).
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| Notes from Notre Dame Liturgy Symposium |
Last month, I had the opportunity to participate in the Liturgy Symposium offered by the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. The Center for Liturgy, which is part of Notre Dame's Institute for Church Life, seeks to promote the liturgical renewal of the Church through scholarship and pastoral education. The symposia and other events offered by the Center are aimed at helping pastoral ministers - especially pastors, catechists, campus ministers, and liturgists - deepen their understanding of the liturgy and form their liturgical spirituality.
The Liturgy Symposium is not for the faint of heart. There were eight rich and challenging presentations in just three days. The theme for the 2016 Symposium was "Liturgy and the New Evangelization," and the presentations focused on the key role of liturgy in the work of evangelization. Here are a few of the key insights I took away from the experience. (All the presentations are available in full on YouTube).
- It's all about parents. Christian Smith and Justin Barkus presented preliminary results of their research on what influences teens and young adults to continue with the practice of their faith or to abandon it. The single greatest factor is not pastors, youth ministers, or peers, but parents. "Parents set a glass ceiling," Smith said memorably, "above which children seldom rise." Parents of teens often feel that they have no influence on their children any more. But that is not the case. "Many parents listen to cultural scripts that disempower them by telling them to turn their children over to experts," the presenters said. Parishes can play a key role in empowering parents to take the lead, not by conveying information about the faith, but by living their faith in an intentional way.
- Digital media presents new challenges. Daniella Zsupan-Jerome spoke about the impact of digital media on the liturgical capacity of Christians. Zsupan-Jerome spoke about the key values of the digital world: constant innovation; participation; collaboration; simultaneity; ubiquity; speed. Some of these values are quite at odds with liturgical values. She reminded us that when it comes to social media giants like Facebook, we, the users, are not actually the clients: advertisers are the clients; we are the product, the data that is being mined and sold. (!)
- Fostering interpretive communities. Kimberly Belcher spoke about the importance of ritual, which is a key aspect of the human experience. In many ways our culture is impoverished when it comes to ritual. She urged parishes to foster "interpretive" communities: in other words, people who do not simply have the Mass explained to them, but who reflect on what they see, hear, and experience at Mass, guided by leaders who simply listen at first, without immediately leaping to right or wrong answers. We need to "assist, not assess," Belcher says, because the "sustained gaze" of such reflection can truly "bring liturgy to life."
- Is anyone listening? The homily is incredibly important in the New Evangelization. But it all-too-frequently is a place of disconnect. Karla Bellinger has conducted an extensive survey of those who give and those who listen to homilies. Among listeners, one question came up again and again: "is he talking to me?" Among preachers, the most common question was, "is anyone listening?" This clearly reflects the chasm that often forms between preacher and listeners. Bellinger urged homilists to talk with people about their preaching, to ask for feedback, negative as well as positive. Good preaching does not aim for those who are always there, but seeks to address those on the periphery. Ultimately, Bellinger said, what people are wanting is not less preaching-shorter homilies-but homilies that go deeper.
Corinna Laughlin
Pastoral Assistant for Liturgy, St. James Cathedral
Member, Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission
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Notes from National Association of Pastoral Musicians
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| | Music showcase at NPM Convention 2016 |
The annual conference for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) was held on July 11-15, 2016 in Houston, Texas.
The conference theme for this year was "The Church Sings: One Holy, Catholic Apostolic." Much of the conference was focused on multiculturalism. The plenum speakers were all very good and inspiring. The multilingual liturgies were beautiful and spirit-filled. At St. Louise Parish we are blessed to celebrate 6-8 bilingual liturgies a year a because our Hispanic, Fil-Am and Indian communities are very active. One thing that I took away from the conference was that interculturation begins with building relationships and you must take time to learn about each other's culture, history. Lastly, it was reaffirming to hear that we at St. Louise have already implemented many of the best practices that were mentioned, for example building a common bilingual music repertoire.
Lynette Basta Pastoral Assistant for Music St. Louise, Bellevue
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 Pope Francis declared this year through November 20, 2016 as The Holy Year of Mercy.
The Holy Year of Mercy will be an opportunity to encourage Christians to meet people's "real needs" with concrete assistance, to experience a "true pilgrimage" on foot, and to send "missionaries of mercy" throughout the world to forgive even the most serious of sins, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella in a Vatican news conference.
FDLC Resources for the Year of Mercy
The Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions has published the first installment of resources for the Year of Mercy. This document includes the full text of the Papal Bull as well as frequently asked questions and the official calendar of events.
Hymn for the Year of Mercy
The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization published on its 'Jubilee of Mercy' website the winning entry in an international competition for a hymn setting for the Holy Year of Mercy. The music has been written by Paul Inwood, a British composer whose work is popular among many parish liturgies across North America .
The hymn is currently available in Italian, English and French, and the author and composer have donated all rights in it to the Pontifical Council to aid its diffusion around the world.
Prayer for the Year of Mercy
"Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord..."
Oración
"Manda tu Espíritu y conságranos a todos con su unción para que el Jubileo de la Misericordia sea un año de gracia del Señor..."
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| Upcoming events |
MASTER OF CEREMONIES WORKSHOP 
Register today for this workshop on Preparations by the Master of Ceremonies when the (arch)bishop comes to celebrate Mass at your Parish (e.g. Confirmation, Dedication, Anniversary, Blessings). Saturday, November 19th from 10:00am - 1:00pm at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in West Seattle. At only $10.00 per person, all participants will receive workshop materials, a light breakfast and refreshments throughout the day. Visit the Liturgy Office website for more information and to register.
ORDER OF CELEBRATING MATRIMONY WORKSHOPS
The Archdiocese of Seattle will be sponsoring a number of workshops and webinars this Fall on the newly revised Rite of Marriage text, the
Order of Celebrating Matrimony.
A suggested donation of $10 per person to offset the cost of the materials for these workshops and webinars is greatly appreciated. Checks may be made payable to "CCAS".
St. Rose de Viterbo, Longvew
Friday, September 16th from 9:00am - 2:00pm
Presenter: Andrew Casad, Director of Liturgy for the Archdiocese of Seattle
Two online webinars through Liturgy Training Publications.
Tuesday, September 20th
The same webinar will be presented at 11:00am (PST) and the other at 7:00pm (PST)
Presenter: Andrew Casad
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Bothell
Monday, October 10th from Noon - 5:00pm
Presenter: Fr. Bryan Dolejsi, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Seattle
Church of the Assumption, Bellingham
Saturday, November 5th from 10:00am - 3:00pm
Presenter: Fr. Scott Connolly, Pastor of Church of the Assumption, Bellingham
St. Michael, Olympia
Saturday, November 19th from 10:00am - 3:00pm
Presenter: Corinna Laughlin, Pastoral Assistant for Liturgy at St. James Cathedral
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| Liturgy Training Publications Discount |
Did you know that the Liturgy Office has a discount with Liturgy Training Publications?
Whether it be for ritual texts such as the Book of Blessings, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or annual resources such as At Home with the Word, Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons and Weekdays, or the popular Lector Workbooks, order your LTP resources through our office and you can receive 20% off your order!
All you have you do is email Jennifer with the information below. Your items will be shipped directly to you and Jennifer will send you an invoice for payment once you receive the items.
- Name of Item(s)
- Quantity of Item(s)
- Name and Mailing Address for delivery
Please email Jennifer with at least one month's notice to allow for LTP to process and ship your order.
Order of Celebrating Matrimony
Pre-order your new marriage ritual text, the Order of Celebrating Matrimony, by emailing Jennifer Gramaje with your name, parish, the quantity you wish to purchase, and a mailing address.
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